The Current State Of The Breakfast Room (And The Plan)
When I wrote my 2026 Master List of Home Goals post last week, I didn’t include recent pictures of the breakfast room because Matt and I had been using that room as our temporary bedroom for over a year while I worked on our master bedroom suite all last year. Even after we moved into our new bedroom last week, the adjustable bed base was still in the breakfast room. So with a ton of help from my mom, we got the bed moved out and put back together as a sitting room, which is how the room was being used before we made it our temporary bedroom.
I’m so glad to have this room back in usable condition again, but it’s far from where it was before being turned into our temporary bedroom. While finishing other areas, I’ve shopped our house for items that would work in those other areas, and most of those items came from the breakfast room. So now this room is looking a bit bare. Here’s what it looked like before…
And here’s what the other side of the room looked like…
The artwork above the benches was the first thing I “shopped” for my closet, and those now hang above my washer and dryer.
And as you can see from the above pictures, the curtains from the breakfast/sitting room are now in my closet as well.
I reupholstered and painted one of the benches for our bedroom suite foyer. (This isn’t where the bench ended up, but this picture shows the bench better than the most recent pictures.)
And I even took the plant and the orange and cream throws for our bedroom suite. So after all of that, this is what the breakfast room looks like now. The gallery wall with the TV is the only thing that hasn’t changed…
But the rest is looking a little sad and bare right now.
But this is the wall that needs the most attention. My cord covers have fallen off the wall, and now there are no benches or anything else to hide them.
And this wall is in desperate need of COLOR!
And I’ve finally decided what I want to do. I want to buy or build two matching sideboards to go on those walls. I highly doubt that they’ll be natural wood, but I couldn’t find what I want, so I just used these for the mockup. I kind of have my heart set on green sideboards. Now that I’ve used green pretty prominently in the bedroom, I’m kind of on a green kick. And then above them, I want to use my spoon pinwheel art on one side, and then I want to make another coordinating piece of artwork out of the same thing (wood spoons) but in a different pattern for the other side. My spoon pinwheel artwork is probably my favorite piece of art I’ve ever made, and I don’t think it’s current placement in the living room is the best place for it. I think this will be much better.
UPDATE: I found a green sideboard that will work for the purpose of illustrating my vision, but this isn’t quite the right color or style that I want.
Since I hope to turn this room back into a breakfast room with a dining table and chairs by the end of this year, it just makes sense to have sideboards there instead of benches. Those benches never got used like I thought they would.
And then, of course, I’ll be on the lookout for the perfect fabric for these windows…
This time, I’ll make them properly. The last ones were only one width of fabric for each curtain panel. They’re perfect for my closet window, but they were actually way too skimpy for such a large window area in this room. So I’ll double up on fabric this time. And I think I also want to look for a patterned fabric — something bold, colorful, and fun. I haven’t even started my search for fabric yet, but I have a vision in my mind of what I’m looking for. Of course, when I start a search already knowing what I’m looking for, that often makes it much more difficult to find the right fabric. But I’m not in a rush. I can take my time with this and get it right.
When the time comes to turn this room into an actual dining area, I’ll also be swapping out the light fixture. This light fixture is fine for a sitting room, but I’ll want a chandelier of some sort to go above a dining table. But again, I have plenty of time to find just the right light fixture for the room. Before any of that can happen, I’ll need to find a place for Matt’s recliner where he can spend a few hours each day sitting comfortably while watching TV. I have no idea where that can go, so until I figure that out, this room needs to stay a sitting room. But I’m highly motivated to figure it out because I want my dining area back! 😀
More About Our Breakfast Room
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room diy projects
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Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
I can imagine how badly you want this room back to what it should be! It’s been more than a minute since you turned it in to a sitting room! I’m waiting to see what you do for spoon art, considering your need for symmetry. How will you create something that isn’t a duplicate, and have symmetry at the same time? And once again, your Mom is amazing to be helping you move the bed out of there and into the bedroom! I just stripped the sheets off my bed to wash, and had to sit down and rest! My 70’s have hit me hard, and I’m fighting back this year, now that I’ve pretty much healed!!!
I’m not sure how I’ll get my symmetry, but I’m determined to find a way. I don’t want two pinwheels, but I think if the other one is made of the same materials, has the same finished size, and uses the same colors, I’ll be happy with it.
I guess I forgot that room is going back to a dining room…I was thinking it was all going to be a big kitchen…am I right…the kitchen is still going to be in the addition in the back? Goodness, I guess I AM forgetting something! Is the pantry staying now? I DO love that pantry! 😂 I guess it has been a while since we read about all those plans. Your bedroom is looking so good, and the closet/laundry area is the coolest thing ever. I hope your kitty is back feeling well, and the outside cat is doing OK, and of course the pup is following you around all day! I’m happy you are back at it with plans!
I can understand your confusion. I’ve been through several rounds of different plans for these areas. 😀 But now, the kitchen is staying where it is. The pantry is staying as well. And the sitting room will be turned back into a dining area. At some point, I do want a new kitchen (new appliances, cabinets, and countertops), but it will stay in the same footprint as the current kitchen.
Felicity is doing SO much better! I was so worried about her, but she seems to be back to her normal self now. The other two are doing well.
What about the fabric you created for your chair pillow in your bedroom? It is beautiful and has a lot of the colors you have in your kitchen/pantry/rug
I do love that fabric, but it doesn’t have any pink in it. I’ll need something that has some pink in it for the dining area.
Love the spoon art too and am looking forward to seeing what you do for the other side. I’d look into new lights above the artwork. Something more demure, possibly in a brass finish. They make rechargeable ones now, so you wouldn’t even have to worry about cords or cord covers. It can highlight (literally) the art without drawing so much attention (like the current ones).
My DIL has rechargeable lights in the nursery. She is constantly having to recharge them. They aren’t practical if they are on often. Good idea, I think they just need to work on the longevity of the charge.
I love your sitting room. I made my dining room off my kitchen into my sitting room. Absolutely love it. I have my own little space. Not missed a formal dining room one bit.
I would love to be able to keep the sitting room, but we have no eating area at all. We don’t have any other place for a dining table, so this room is it. I miss having a dining table so much. I know a recliner is more important to Matt than a table, but I miss being able to sit at a table to eat. It’s especially awkward when someone else is here for a meal. Sitting on the floor around the living room coffee table is less than ideal.
Have you considered a drop-leaf table? It takes up less space on the daily, but could seat up to 6. Matt’s recliner could slide out of the way when you need the table.
I haven’t! I’ll have to think about whether or not that would work.
Could the music room be your temporary solution as a sitting area? Or will the demolition and construction render the space unusable due to noise, dust and people/equipment passing through?
No, the music room has to remain free of furniture that takes up any of the space in the middle of the room, so the recliner would be too big in there. Matt has to have the middle of the room open as the main passthrough from the bedroom side of the house to the kitchen/studio side of the house. And that’s where I transfer Matt from his Hoyer lift to his wheelchair. I can’t have any bulky furniture in that room.
Crazy idea: ( I am very bad at spatial areas so forgive me if I am wrong) What about a long dining room table instead of round , that has inserts to make bigger and putting the recliner in the corner of the island , peninsula thingy and the window .. I have a chair in my kitchen, I would normally have put something else there but my great grandna had a rocking chair, same with my gram and my mom so a chair belongs there and I love it!
I’m sure I’m opening a big can of worms, and I know the addition will have a sitting room, but if the dining room is going here, can Matt’s chair and the tv go in the front room? Then youd have a living room and a dining room while you work on the addition.
I’m really set against having a TV in that room. BUT if that’s the only solution, I’ll make it work. I think there may be another solution, though.
That’s what I was planning, but aren’t they generally round and then expand to an oval with the leaves? I’ll have to measure and see if the recliner and a table will both fit.
I love the start of a new project, of course I have never really finished any of my projects, so I am betting that if I finished one of mine, I’d feel even better, I think I will try that this year, it probably won’t happen but hope springs eternal. I can’t wait to see how the dining area comes about. Have you thought about using the “backs” of the spoons for the art piece, that way you would have an obverse of the other piece, and that is how I came to find you was that art piece. I still think that is the most incredible and clever piece I have ever seen.
Thanks for bringing us along for the ride.
Cheers to you, Matt and the Fur Babies!
Oh, I love that idea! Same medium but used in a different way. Brilliant!
Lots of ideas. I need to shop in my house!
Dear Kristi,
Good Morning. Would you please share the link for the green sideboard?
I hope you’ll come across the perfect solution for a dining area with table to eat at AND Matt’s chair; that works perfectly in your kitchen space. Thank you!
YHWH Bless You : )
The actual green sideboard is from Wayfair, and it’s twice as wide as my edited version that I used in the mockup. Here’s my affiliate link for the actual sideboard: https://bit.ly/3NMwyyX
I loved the curtains you had in the room before with the green ball trim, if you still have those, I think they would look great since you would have the green sideboards across the room from it. Is there enough room on the left hand side of the pantry door to put Matt’s recliner?He would still have a good view of the TV from that spot.
There’s not enough room there for the recliner. It would block the walkway (i.e., Matt’s wheelchair path) through that area.
Two suggestions for your sitting room:
1: Spoon art. Consider a spiral same size as the round piece, but colors fading into each other as they go round and round,’2: the two green cabinets would be extra useful if you made them from Ikea cabinets with drawers for storage. I’m a convert to the drawer instead of lower door team….so much easier on the back, and makes the contents far more accessible. Plus the to-the-floor design hides cords, dust, and all kinds of stuff that you don’t want anyone to see,
I love both of those ideas! ESPECIALLY the spiral design idea!